"Give me four million dollars, and I will lick you to orgasm under the table."
The wealthy businesswoman blinked. Her breath stopped, caught in the back of her throat. "... What?"
The pause was when I knew I had her. She had money, and power, and a stronger drive to win than anyone I had ever known, but I had a direct line from my voice to her body. "You heard me." I leaned forward in my chair, eyes locked on hers, suppressing my smile. "Give me four million dollars," I intoned. It wasn't an order, but it wasn't a question. "And I will lick you, to orgasm, under the table."
She glanced down at her stacks of bills. I could almost hear her brilliant mind crunching through the calculations I had just finished a moment earlier. Four million was nothing near her net worth, but it was almost all of her liquid assets. We both knew she could afford it. But we both knew she would be... exposed.
And her little pewter terrier was right in front of a row of my hotels.
When she looked up, her bright blue eyes were narrowed. Her competitive streak was a mile wide. "Two million."
"No." I kept my face confident and my voice even, but I surprised us both with how easily I dropped that syllable. I could get used to negotiating from a position of power. "Four million."
"Two million and my bra," she counter-offered. The bra was coral-pink, textured with satin and lace. It was also the last scrap of clothing she had on, after I had taken her panties in exchange for rent.